Special Session on Brain, Mind and Machines. June 14, 2011. 7:00am - 12:30pm.

The 15th International Graphonomics Society Conference will feature a Special Session on Brain, Mind & Machines for Dexterous Movement Control, which will be highlighted by the plenary speakers:
• Ranulfo Romo, UNAM, Mexico: Conversion of sensory signals into perceptual decisions
• Marc Scheiber, University of Rochester: Changing the circuits that control the fingers
• Miguel Nicolelis, Duke University: Toward whole‐body neuroprosthetics

The Special session will consist of ‘position’ presentations, strictly limited to 10 minutes in length to allow for ample debate and discussion, addressing critical issues involving the neural and biomechanical computations for fine finger control and the development of dexterous neuroprosthetics.

You are invited to contribute to a Special Poster Session associated with this session to report on recent breakthroughs and ongoing work on Brain, Mind & Machines for Dexterous Movement Control. If you wish to submit an abstract for the Special Poster Session, please submit at http://www.graphonomics.org/igs2011/submit.php and request the Special Session at the top of your abstract:

• One‐page abstract stating the position you will take during the debate, including up to 5 references.

Deadline for Position Posters for the Special Session: January 24th, 2010. Authors notification for Special Poster Session: February 1, 2011

Please note that a consensus report summarizing the discussion at the Special Session, and coauthored by the speaker participants (if desired), will open a Special Issue on Brain‐Machine Interfaces and the Control of Dexterous Movements to appear in the Journal of Computers in Biology and Medicine.

10:40 am-9:50 am What information is contained in the brain’s ‘noise’ that could be harnessed by BMI?
Speaker: Christoph Guger, Graz (Guger Technologies)

10:50 am-11:00 am Strengths and limitations of hand prosthetics for BMI. Are we there yet?
Speaker: Jacob Vogelstein, John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

11:00 am-12:30 pmDiscussion: What are the most promising hypotheses/approaches for understanding and improving BMI reliability for fine motor control? Which hypotheses are most testable and how? What new collaborations may help test hypotheses? What studies are needed to move forward?
Moderators: Miguel Nicolelis (Duke), Ranulfo Romo (UNAM) and Marc Schieber (Rochester)